Trusting TripAdvisor – Karamanlidika, Athens

We meet a couple one night and shared a shuttle back from Perissa to Oia. He was Irish and she was Brazilian. They ask about our travels and I mention I’m going to Athens next.

“You have to visit…babe, what was that place beginning with K,” he turns to his girlfriend.

“Karamanlidika…it’s the third best restaurant in Athens on TripAdvisor,” he says.

I duly write it down, however in my mind I’m thinking that there is next to no chance I’d visit. They are on a late-twenties/early-thirties couples holiday, whereas I’m an early-twenties student travelling solo.

On my last night in Athens, three of us (a guy and a girl from my room at the hostel and myself) are searching for a place for dinner.

“I’ve found one,” he says and so we walk to a place a few streets away.

I look at the sign as we enter and see that the restaurant name begins with a K.

“Hmm, weird,” I think, and pull out my phone to compare the name. Not the same place. Different. Okay.

Inside, there are strings of sausages and meats hung, along with vegetables. Cabinets filled with meats and cheese form the barrier between the kitchen and the tables, and there is a separate eating area in the alley outside. It is filled with plants and is secluded and pretty.

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The smell inside is delicious and we can’t wait to look at the menu. I opened the menu and on the first page is the English translation of the restaurant name.

Karamanlidika!

Excited, we scan the menu. The prices are cheap and everything sounds delicious. We opt for €9 bottle of red wine which costs more than most of the main courses!

Starters page (there were more pages I forgot to take pictures of)

Wines page (there were more pages that I forgot to take pics of)

They bring out meat and cheese to try on the house – called “kerasma”- and bread (which turns out later not to be free, of course).

We order three appetizers between two of us and another of us orders a main. The starters range in price from about €4-7 and the mains are slightly more but mostly under €10.

The meal cost us €33 for three of us! They bring out a dish of yoghurt with candied orange at the end, also on the house.

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The atmosphere at this restaurant, the staff and the food were brilliant and I can see why they’re number three on TripAdvisor. If you’re looking for an awesome restaurant to eat at in Athens without the price tag that normally comes with highly rated restaurants, Karamanlidika is for you. I will definitely return and recommend it to anyone visiting Athens!